Biography 318: Cars in my life.

 My parent bought their first car in Saudi Arabia. It's very common there for people to buy cars for personal use. They also bought their next car in Saudi Arabia. Then, when they settled in Bangladesh, my father had a motorcycle from the office. Later, he bought his own bike. When I started working, my dad bought a car for his own use. Later, I started using it and said I was ready to pay its expenses so I could use it like my own. But dad didn't want that. So I left it.

I bought my first car in Saskatchewan, Canada, and my second in the same province. Both vehicles had served very well. Later, I purchased my 3rd car from Ontario. This car has given me more trouble than I can imagine. So my 4th car has to be better.

Ontario Car Insurance should be improved.

 Car insurance in Ontario needs some improvement. I have seen in Saskatoon, people don't afraid to claim insurance for any damage of their car. But in Ontario, even when it is not their fault the don't want to claim or inform about the damage to the insurance company. Because, most probably the insurance comapny will find some hidden cause for not to give any help. If somehow they help they will take the record as a bad record and will increase the insurance monthly payment. Not only that they will increase the insurance fee for all car owners in that area by saying it is a dangerous area for car drivers.

The insurance suppose to be helpful for the car drivers, that's why it's mandatory. But in Ontario, it is a punishment. It is to increase corporates money, not to help the general drivers. Things should be improved.

All insurance claims should come through a government regulatory system, who will determine whether the person should get insurance help or not. 3rd party, Not the private company. And also insurance amount should be regulated by the same government regulatory board, so that corporate won't be able to charge extra to the general people.

I like rain, still.

 I like rain. Now a day I have a very strong reason for that. When I saw rain I park my car outdoor in my workplace. So, that it gets washed and becomes spotless.

Yesterday when I was driving to work, it was raining. I sang a song in the car, no worries no one listened. Then took a decision to park outside. In the meantime, it started hails. Oh no, I can't put my car outside in the hails.

I had to park my car in an underground parking spot. I didn't feel good. I couldn't utilize this rain :(

What to do on the road in a snowstorm

 In a snowstorm, people get most trouble is on the road. The car gets stuck. This is a very common situation in Saskatchewan. So, people from Saskatchewan know very well how to handle it. I have lived there for almost 6 years. So, dear Ontario here is my suggestion for you.

1. Have control over your speed. Drive your car at a speed that is controllable. You will understand about it, the way your car gets a slide on the road.

2. If your car gets stuck, don't just sit inside the car and wait for help. You may run out of gas before help comes to you. Get out of the car, take whatever you have (Brush, stick, shovel) and clean snows in front of the tires as well as down the middle of your car. Most probably your car gets stuck its belly in the ice.

3. Help others whose cars get stuck in the snow. Sometimes a little push helps them to get out of the hard ice.

4. If you see from home, some car gets stuck on the road, come out and help.

The most effective solution is to help each other.

Biography 46: My dad's boss's son

Shafeen's work

 One day my dad came from work and he was very angry. He said someone put dirt on his car. Then he looked at me and told me, "Keep an eye on the car."

Our car uses to be parked at the roadside, in front of Tina's house. Because their house was at the front. We didn't get to the roadside house. Tina was the doctor's family's daughter. She was one year younger than me. So, I and Tina became alert. We started playing near the front area of Tina's house.

In the afternoon, we saw a bunch of boys (A little older than us) came on the road. They jumped up on our car and started singing and dancing on its body. I became very angry. They noticed two little girls were standing right beside the car. I told them, get down, now(In Bangla)! Maybe that hurt their boy's ego. They stopped jumping but didn't get down. Tina was very smart. She ran into our house to bring my dad. One of the boys, maybe the leader, told me something (In Arabic). Everyone laughed out loud. Well, that didn't make me feel good.

My dad came. He asked the boy (Leader) something. Then both of them talked (In Arabic), laughed and the boys left. I didn't expect that from my dad.

I and Tina looked at my dad with a question mark. Dad said, "He is our boss's son". Then he left too. Now we girls looked at each other.  What is in boss's son?

After that incident, those boys have never shown up. I don't know, what exactly happened between the two dads.

In this total incident, none of us scared that anything could happen to us. We always felt safe in that country (Saudi Arabia).

Biography 38: Taken help from a Bedouin family

One day we went to the beach. When we were returning home, it was already dark. My dad made a mistake, he put the car on the sand and our car gets stuck. My dad tried very hard but couldn't take out of the car. Then a Bedouin (Local people call them Badoo) family came to help us out. First, they took us to their tent area. 

One thing I must say, I have never seen any people afraid of strangers in Saudi. Generally, all people are very friendly and helpful. So, when a couple of men came to help and ask girls to go to their tent area, we felt relieved. We saw all girls and kids are in the tent. They give us a mattress to sit on and give welcome drink Gahwa (A black coffee but the colour is red and mixed with spices). Adults like it and I felt the taste is bitter so I didn't want it. They speak with my mom in the Arabic language, which I have no clue about. They tried to feed us too, but my mom stopped them somehow.

After some time my dad came and said, these guys helped us with the car. They give some advice to handle this kind of problem. For them, this is an everyday problem. We thanked them and came back home.

It was an amazing night. I have seen lots of stars in the sky. I have expended a beautiful time with very nice bedouin girls. 

 I don't have any road accident experience in Saudi Arabia. Then why I'm writing this post. Well, I heard from adults, and I wanted to put those memories over here.

In Saudi, I don't remember that I have seen any road speed sign. I was too little to look at. I don't remember even I had seen any speed limit sign in Bangladesh too. Anyway, in high ways, cars run like a bullet. Saudi people like to drive fast (Who doesn't). My mom said in an intersection she saw two cars touched slightly and then explode like a bomb. I assumed, because of speed.

My dad never experienced an accident. He was a good driver and he told us to alert on some major issues in Saudi high road.

1. Camels: They can come from know where (Maybe behind the bush or hill) and cross the road. It's a big mammal and your car will definitely destroy.

2. Sands: sometimes the wind blows sands and puts them on the road. As you are running too fast, this may cause trouble.

3. Sleep: in desert roads, you may feel sleepy often. You have to be careful always.

Test rides

Yes, it's test rides, not a test drive. Due to my current situation, I am using Uber to ride. Every time I call, a different brand of the car appears. I am checking which car is conformation, running great etc. I liked Honda CRV, Nissan rough because of comfort. The Uber driving informs me that Nissan doesn't take much gas. So, It's economic too. I have ridden on Mercedes, Toyota and Ram. I like Ram's smooth ride. 

When I was a kid in Saudi Arabia, I thought someday I will buy a truck like Ram 1500. Now a day I am trying to avoid the car, which consumes more gas. Though I still like trucks.

Driving a car

My father had 3 cars, one after another. And still I don't know how to drive. In my childhood, my dad kept me on his lap and let me handle the car. That's it. Later I didn't try to drive. Many times I thought I will learn driving from our driver, then from my brother, but I didn't. Then I thought I will learn from a driving training school. But I didn't. It's not that I fear to drive. It's just lack of will power. Still I have a plan to learn driving a car :)